From: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org (basia-digest) To: basia-digest@smoe.org Subject: basia-digest V4 #46 Reply-To: basia@smoe.org Sender: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-basia-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk X-To-Unsubscribe: Send mail to "basia-digest-request@smoe.org" X-To-Unsubscribe: with "unsubscribe" as the body. basia-digest Friday, February 19 1999 Volume 04 : Number 046 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: Has become a cat that is half full [combee@dacha.yak.net (Ben Combee)] Re: Would you forgive me? ...eerm... Blame the exams! [Robin "A cat that is half full," eh? Reminds me of this weird Pokemon toy Matt > got from a friend of ours for Christmas. It's this weird cat that, even > though it speaks English on the show, shouts out in obnoxious sounding > cat-accented Japanese when you press the button. He sounds like he's > half- over-full. I have that toy sitting on my AMD K6-2 machine at work along side the talking Pikachu Pokemon and a couple of cloth Pokemon toys I got at E3 last Spring. I really got a kick out of the box in which Meowth came - -- its obviously a remarketed toy originally intended for the Japanese market. Rather that say its speaking Japanese, it said "electronic chattering voice"! ObBasia: I'm really getting into the CD from the band Sixpence None the Richer. I love the instrumentation on this one, and the lead singers voice reminds me favorable of The Innocence Mission, another band I adore. One of the songs on their self-titled CD is an interpretation of a Pablo Neruda poem sung in Spanish -- really nice and Latin tinged, just like some of Basia's best songs. - -- Benjamin L. Combee (combee@techwood.org) ....will work for details on Katmai New Instructions.... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 18 Feb 1999 22:21:50 -0600 From: Robin Subject: Re: Would you forgive me? ...eerm... Blame the exams! Thelma Gunter wrote: > Is 43 old? No Thelma, 43 is "young". I am older than that and wonder why I should feel so young!!! Just wait until these "young ones" reach their 30's and 40's. ;-) Robin > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 00:15:07 EST From: JPovlock@aol.com Subject: Heroes I wanted to contribute something to the topic of heroes. I suggested a while back that Ashoke write about this topic, which he did wonderfully, as always. While I don't have his way with words, here is my take on the subject. I guess we all probably looked up to our parents as our first heroes. They knew everything, right? As we went to high school and college, our views of our parents probably lowered considerably. Only when we got older and wiser, often with children of our own, did we realize one important fact - our parents basically did the best they could do. Everyone has faults and imperfections. Even Michael Jordan has holes in his game. He never won an NBA championship until he learned how to utilize all his teammates. And while who wouldn't want to "Be Like Mike", his personal life has left things to be desired. He has an infatuation with gambling, he fathered a child out of wedlock, and he can be mean and nasty to lesser- talented players. Some would say this makes him less of a hero, but I think this makes him a fascinating character. A lot of what makes someone a hero is that he meets our expectations. We look up to people who continually meet or exceed our expectations. When that doesn't happen, their stature falls in our eyes. But obviously it is difficult to remain at a high level of achievement. The shelf life of a hero is not always long. My father told me one time that musicians, just like athletes, have a short career, too. He loved Frank Sinatra, but couldn't bear watching him in his later years. To hear my Dad say Frank was pitiful really said a lot. I have seen the same thing in my favorite band from my college days, Chicago. When they began, in 1969, they were terrific - talented and sophisticated. They put out many tremendous albums. By the middle 80's they had been reduced to a bunch of middle-aged men singing blubbering love songs (written by Diane Warren :) ) In the 90's they are just an oldies act. I don't ever want to see them again, but I still look up to them for what they did accomplish. I have noticed a lot of musical acts peak around their fourth CD. An act takes a couple CD's to establish themselves, then the next two are their best. They have learned how to create, record, and perform. Often times they have created their own signature "sound". But after that, they often become a parody of themselves, trying to stay fresh and yet stay with what was successful. Celine Dion is a perfect example. I like her a lot, but, partly because she is so overplayed, it is difficult to listen to her anymore. Her last CD, with that Titanic song, is simple formula - straight out of the Diva Factory of Music (thank you Leslie!). So how does this all relate to our musical hero? Basia's first two CD's were wonderful. Obviously it caught our attention, and when TSI came out, it showed she had come of age. I can't say enough about that CD. I suspect that her next CD will probably be at that level. After that, who knows? But she will always be one of my heroes, because of the endless pleasure I have received listening to her music. Jakob Dylan, Bob Dylan's son and leader of The Wallflowers, made the comment that he didn't want to be a rock star, he just wanted to be a musician. Bravo! With the interviews appearing on the list the past two months, I think everyone is in agreement that Basia is probably just a regular person like anyone else. I can't see her getting too big a head from her successes. I could see running into her at the supermarket, as Ashoke suggested. But unless she turns down my request for an autograph, she will remain my hero :) Jim P. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 00:31:08 EST From: JPovlock@aol.com Subject: Clear Horizon On my last post I was intelligent, literate, and thoughtful. This time I'm gonna get up on my soapbox for awhile. While Clear Horizon is old news, I finally broke down and bought it. I did this because this is a CD from my "hero", and I wanted to hear four new songs. I think in one of the past interviews Basia said she really didn't want to do this, but her record company basically made her. Quite frankly, I don't think she put forth much effort into any of the new songs. You all know how much I dislike Waters of March. It's a terrible song, even with Basia singing it. But I have listened to the new songs all evening, and I keep getting the same feeling about Clear Horizon. Let's see, a gospel-like children's choir, the line "you're an angel, you can fly", and that cutesy ending. Hmmmm, sound like straight out of a Disney flick. All we needed was some pictures of little animals running around on the inside. This song sounded suspicially like it came out of Leslie's Diva Factory. Then I got the bright idea to tape the new songs from this CD and the new songs from Brave New Hope and make up one tape of new songs. Too bad it's barely 30 minutes long! What really irritates me is that I spent top dollar on two CD's, and really got only one (barely) new CD worth of music. Maybe this is why Basia doesn't need to record more, because she makes enough money from suckers from me, who pay full price and receive less than full value! Dammit!! Thanks for letting me vent! Your consumer advocate, Jim P. ------------------------------ End of basia-digest V4 #46 **************************